First Names are Drawn for World Series Title Game Tickets

The drawing for the first
tickets to the 2006 Little League Baseball World
Series Championship Game was held at Peter J.
McGovern Little League Museum on Tuesday
morning. Pictured from left to right are: former
Maynard Midgets team member Bob “Rusty”
Columbine, and Carm Grieco and Chuck Osborne
from Lock Haven Little League. The Maynard
Midgets defeated Lock Haven Little League, 16-7,
in the first Little League Baseball World Series
championship game, played in 1947.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (April 4, 2006) – In recognition of the first
Little League Baseball World Series in 1947, members of the Maynard
Midgets and Lock Haven Little League teams, that played in the first
championship game, pulled the first three names in the annual Little
League Baseball World Series ticket lottery today at the Peter J.
McGovern Little League Museum.

This August, Little League International will mark the 60th
anniversary of the Little League Baseball World Series.

Charine Araujo Barron of East Windsor, N.J., Karen Petersen of
Modesto, Calif., and Mamie Hastings of Delmar, Md., each will
receive four tickets to the Little League Baseball World Series
World Championship Game, set for Aug. 27 at Howard J. Lamade
Stadium, site of every World Series since 1959. They also will
receive four World Series caps, t-shirts, trading pins, souvenir
programs and museum admissions as a bonus for being the first
participants selected.

“This is the first time we have sent a letter into the ticket
lottery,” Mrs. Barron said. “After I sent the letter my
six-year-old, Javin, kept asking me, ‘Have your heard anything? Have
you heard anything?’ Now, Javin knows we’ll be going to Williamsport
for Championship weekend.”

Each year, those desiring tickets for the World Championship Game
prepare a letter requesting up to four tickets for the final game.
The letter must be received at Little League International between
the end of the previous year’s World Series, and the close of
business on the last day of February, to be considered. Mrs. Barron
and Mr. Petersen names were the first drawn from more than 1,600
entries.

“The ticket lottery is fun way for people to enjoy everything the
Little League World Series has to offer,” Scott Rosenberg, assistant
to the President for Special Projects, said. “The chance to visit
the Little League International complex, and be a part of the World
Championship Game is a memorial experience. But, everyone should
remember, even if you don’t have a ticket, you can always come to
any World Series game and enjoy the greatest youth sporting event in
the world.”

“My husband played Little League and all three of my children were
Little Leaguers,” Mrs. Hastings said. “John (Hastings) watches the
Little League World Series every year and has always wanted to go. I
wanted to give the tickets as a Christmas present, but instead they
will be a Father’s Day gift.”

Little League International will notify (by mail) those individuals
selected to receive tickets from the lottery process. Those whose
entries are not chosen will receive a postcard saying they may still
attend the final game, watching from the terraced hills beyond the
outfield fence where tickets are not required. While tickets for
certain areas of the stadiums are required, they are not required
for other sections for most games and there is never an admission
charge to any Little League World Series game.

“These tickets are a retirement gift from my wife,” said Mr. David
Petersen, who has already made arrangements to be in the
Williamsport area for the entire World Series Tournament. “It’s like
a dream come true. The first thought that came to my mind when I
found out was, ‘You go your whole life and don’t win anything, but
when it matters the most you do win.’ To me, (receiving these
tickets) is almost like the teams that finally get to go to the
World Series after dreaming about it for so long.”

The 2006 Little League Baseball World Series begins on Aug. 18.
Information on attending the World Series can be found at
www.littleleague.org.